So a Boston-area fugitive "flees" to Portland-area Maine, all the while changing only his first name. At least put a few countries of distance between yourself and undergo a sex change or something. Make it interesting, you dull, boring, rapey f*ck.

Let's say he didn't do anything else bad after the three rapes - what's the point in imprisoning him now? It's not like rehabilitation would be required.

Well, only if you think that the "point' of laws are to punish and imprison the actual offender, and not, for instance, to assure the community at large that the rule of law is in fact enforced. It's a true and statistically and empirically proven fact, for instance, that the majority of murderers only commit one murder; if they are not caught (and punished) they're not going to commit another murder ever again. John List is an obvious example: He murdered his entire family one day, and was found something like 35 years later (with another whole family) having never acquired so much as a parking ticket in the meantime. Another guy in Southern California killed two cops after kidnapping four teenagers and raping one of them; he was found so many years later that he was a great-grandfather and the rape victim was in her 80's. He also had not reoffended in all that time.

Shall we say, Oh, well, then, no harm no foul? These guys are clearly no threat to society so let's just overlook the fact that they killed people a long time ago? I guess we could--if the only purpose of laws is to punish the offender. However, laws are also meant to stabilize society and assure the community that justice is a concrete thing and not merely an abstract concept. Laws and the guarantee of their execution--even after many years and no further offense--is what keeps people from taking justice into their own hands; the assurance that the authorities have things under control.

Mr Rogers is aroused:As someone who lives on the very edge of this nothingness, and yet has a short-ish commute to the Portland area, I concur. My PO box came with my rental. Let THAT sink in for a minute.. Our Post office is the front room of the farmhouse at the corner. I'm the neighborhood arsehole because I dont wave to anything that moves. This shiat is the setting of a Stephen King novel.

/Bet all my neighbors are rapists. The 'purty mouth' kind.

No doubt. The only reason I know is that my grandfather built a house on one of the smaller ponds west of Portland (less than an hour drive) that I've been going to my entire life. The phrase "turn off the paved road" is featured in the driving directions. Same deal with the PO Box, my parents spend the summer up there now, still have to include the post office on their weekly errands.

Yanks_RSJ:Killer Cars: So a Boston-area fugitive "flees" to Portland-area Maine, all the while changing only his first name. At least put a few countries of distance between yourself and undergo a sex change or something. Make it interesting, you dull, boring, rapey f*ck.

Had he moved further inland in Maine they never would have found him. That's better than leaving the country, it's like getting in a time machine back to before the crime was even committed.

As someone who lives on the very edge of this nothingness, and yet has a short-ish commute to the Portland area, I concur. My PO box came with my rental. Let THAT sink in for a minute.. Our Post office is the front room of the farmhouse at the corner. I'm the neighborhood arsehole because I dont wave to anything that moves. This shiat is the setting of a Stephen King novel.

Lost Thought 00:They let a convicted rapist facing life in prison have a week to themselves unsupervised before sentencing? Brilliant!

In their defense, it was 1979. Back then, in Southeastern Massachusetts we were encouraged to go on outings with Catholic priests, accept candy from strangers, throw Jets fans off the back of stadiums, and break other various laws then blame it on a nonexistent minority. If you forgot to blame a minority, the cops would just do it for us. Times were different.

Bastard_Lunatic:Cheron: Benjamin Orr:In the olden days it was much easier to change your identity.

Don't ask me how I know this.

When I turned 16 I need an SS card to work - you didn't get one a birth in those days - so I went to town hall with my school ID and got my birth certificate. I only need my birth certificate to get the SS card and I only need the SS card to get my drivers license. With my drivers license I got credit cards and a passport. Every bit of ID I have started as a laminated picture with my school name an logo on a card. If I had been thinking I would have done it twenty times more.

You needed to do a little research and find birth certificates for kids that died very young. That's how the scam worked. You get legit ID's for dead people your age, or a little older so you can buy booze.

I was figuring this guy went from from G Irving to another G Irving because he happened to have a family member roughly his age who died young. He's know enough background to be able to talk his way past the records clerk, get the SS card, and after that he's good to go. Although really he should have headed for the West Coast and eventually a foreign country. Just be an expat teaching English in Japan or some inland city in China and sending a tax form back to Uncle Sam every year. Stay off social media and all that mess and figure the odds of the MSP making it to Osaka or Wuhan are about zero.

Benjamin Orr:In the olden days it was much easier to change your identity.

Don't ask me how I know this.

When I turned 16 I need an SS card to work - you didn't get one a birth in those days - so I went to town hall with my school ID and got my birth certificate. I only need my birth certificate to get the SS card and I only need the SS card to get my drivers license. With my drivers license I got credit cards and a passport. Every bit of ID I have started as a laminated picture with my school name an logo on a card. If I had been thinking I would have done it twenty times more.

dletter:Benjamin Orr: Killer Cars: So a Boston-area fugitive "flees" to Portland-area Maine, all the while changing only his first name. At least put a few countries of distance between yourself and undergo a sex change or something. Make it interesting, you dull, boring, rapey f*ck.

In the olden days it was much easier to change your identity.

Don't ask me how I know this.

No problem Don Draper..... I assume you mean even late 70s when this guy did it being "olden", since he was successful for 35 years.

Yes the 70s count as the olden days now. Just ask any college student for confirmation.

Killer Cars:So a Boston-area fugitive "flees" to Portland-area Maine, all the while changing only his first name. At least put a few countries of distance between yourself and undergo a sex change or something. Make it interesting, you dull, boring, rapey f*ck.

Had he moved further inland in Maine they never would have found him. That's better than leaving the country, it's like getting in a time machine back to before the crime was even committed.

dletter:And he was still able to dodge the law for 35 years... will be interesting to find out what finally gave him away.

True. Also, he could've just kept his legal name if he relocated damn near anywhere further away from Portland. If the Soviets worked with the martians and installed advanced weaponry silos somewhere north of Bangor, we may never have found out and they'd still probably be there. Northern Maine is spooky nothingness.